Weller Center Seeks A Funny Bone The Nonprofit Health Education Facility Near The Crayola Factory In Easton Is Trying To Show With A Limited Budget That It Is More Than Just A Field Trip For Students.

July 02, 2000|by TOM DAVIS, The Morning Call

The brain is the size of a small school bus. A giant nose sneezes on unsuspecting people. And a giant stuffed doll, called Stuffee, lets you tear apart his chest and peek inside.

The Weller Health Education Center on Northampton Street, which is trying to make health fun, was envisioned as a centerpiece of Easton's downtown revitalization.

But it's not easy meeting that expectation.

Before moving from the Easton Hospital campus in Wilson in December, the Weller Center never marketed itself. Now, for the first time in its 18 years, the facility has a marketing director whose biggest challenge is selling health science to children and adults.

`It's hard,` said Lisa Liddington.

The nonprofit center was never open to the walk-in public, either, as it is now. And it depends on private donors to stay afloat.

Unlike the popular Crayola Factory across the street on Centre Square that attracts as many as 12,000 visitors a week, Weller has budget constraints and restrictions on advertising that limit its ability to attract more people.

As a result, the center finds it difficult to promote itself as a fun place and shed its image as a place for classroom instruction.

`People thought there would be classes for drugs and alcohol abuse, HIV and AIDS. Real fun,` said Melissa Lee, the center's chief executive officer.

The center has attracted 55,000 children -- 5,000 ahead of its goal -- through school and community programs since it opened six months ago, but walk-in traffic has merely trickled in.

The center's goal is to attract 250 visitors a week to its Anatomy Academy, which opened to the walk-in public on June 20, Tuesdays through Saturdays. Before that, it was open to the public only on Saturdays.

Helped by visits from church and community groups, the center has nearly met its weekly goal, Lee said. But a fireworks safety demonstration drew six children on June 24, three of whom were the activities director's children.

While city officials are pitching Weller as a family-oriented tourist destination and spin-off of the Crayola Factory, the center tells people to be patient and that success won't happen overnight.

`We're in a real building process, and there's a few things we want to work on,` Lee said.

Lee noted that fund raising has gone well. The center has netted $3.1 million toward its $4.4 million goal, helped by anonymous donations as high as $200,000. City officials say such accomplishments give the center hope.

After the success of the Crayola Factory, which has attracted more than 300,000 visitors a year since opening in 1996 in the Two Rivers Landing complex, Easton officials tried to lure another family-oriented attraction downtown. An expanded Weller Center, with interactive exhibits that attract children, was a perfect fit.

`During the course of the year, at the Weller Center, I think they will do well where they are,` Councilman Burns Bamford said.

But from a marketing standpoint, Liddington had to start from scratch. She also is limited in what she can do. The center avoids costly advertising because it may discourage donors who believe the nonprofit facility should limit spending, Lee said.

The Weller Center offers some discount coupons, but they're not available everywhere because of the cost. Mostly, Liddington relies on word-of-mouth to attract visitors.

The center was looking for a more attractive moniker. So it decided to name the facility's section of interactive exhibits the Anatomy Academy.

`We needed to set this apart and give it a fun name,` Liddington said, adding that the center also is developing a Web site, which will include games for children.

Some, such as Bamford, have said the center should team up with the Crayola Factory to offer combination-price packages, thus directing some of the thousands of crayon-loving tourists to visit the Anatomy Academy across the street.

The Weller Center charges $5 for adults and children. Two Rivers Landing charges $7 for admission to both the Crayola Factory and the National Canal Museum. There is no charge for children 2 and younger at either attraction and senior citizens 65 and older pay $6.50 for Two Rivers.

Liddington said she would love to do a combination package with the Crayola Factory.

Mary Ellyn Voden, executive director of the Crayola Factory, said that would require the approval of the Easton Economic Development Corp. and the Two Rivers Landing operations committee.

The Economic Development Corp. and Easton Redevelopment Authority help operate Two Rivers Landing.

Christine Cleaver, the development corporation's executive director, said the Two Rivers Landing operations committee has discussed offering combination packages. But she said the Weller Center needs to devise a marketing strategy.

Voden said she's trained her staff to direct visitors to the Weller Center and offer discount coupons.

`We try to do everything we can,` said Voden, who also sits on the Weller board. `The Weller is a natural (complement to Crayola ) because it attracts an audience for young kids.`

Liddington and Lee said they're ready to offer anything they can to lure people into their facility.

But they emphasized that the center is slowly promoting itself without sacrificing the quality of its exhibits.

`What's more important is that we do things right,` she said. `I think we have some tremendous exhibits, and we want to maintain their quality.`